Sermon illustration of "Holding the rope"

Pastor Joe Kotvas called our son Matthew up to illustrate "holding the ropes" during his sermon on Sunday. Matthew put his foot in the loop hole and held on with his hands while men in the church hoisted him up to the ceiling. It was a good reminder of the blessing of having supporting churches holding the ropes for us and also a good reminder that we need to be holding the ropes of others in need as well. Acts 9:25 says "Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket."

Celebrating our birthdays with our Adult Sunday School Class

Our adult Sunday School class celebrates birthdays every three months and since Nisha and Jon had their birthdays in June, we were able to celebrate them at the end of August.

Cory Ricker and his wife Melissa brought a cake for all to enjoy.

The final approval of our childrens visa's

Traveling to the immigration building for our final approval with our children's visa'. We are getting used to cramming into one car.

The children needed to be finger-printed and photographed for their identification cards (carnet).

After being finger-printed and photographed, their paper work was submitted for printing. Of course I noticed one of their filing rooms (pictured below) while waiting and became worried that it could be a long wait.

It ended up being one of our quickest trips to immigration. We walked out with our carnet cards in hand within an hour and a half. Praise the Lord!

Street Preaching in Peru

On Saturday, September 3rd, the church (Efata Baptist) gathered together near city hall for an evangelistic push. We walked the streets passing out tracts as a family before the meeting. There were two preaching times along with the church choir singing and other special music. What a blessing to read through tracts with some Peruvians. Many members of the church had the privilege of leading their first soul to the Lord. There were at least twelve decisions for salvation.

Nathan joined others passing out tracts to people in vehicles when they stopped for the red light.

The need for a new roof (techar)

We've had an unusual amount of rain in Villa El Salvador this year. Many of the buildings here in the desert are not built with rain in mind. Most of the roofs are flat and therefore are being damaged. This ministry needed to build a roof over their classrooms which had been damaged by the rain. Our apartment is located on the third floor and will be connected to the new roof being added.

Pastor Silvano as our Spanish Teacher

Pastor Silvano became our new spanish tutor in August. We appreciate his encouragement and passion in teaching us the Spanish language. Learning a new language brings many up and down moments filled with mixed feelings. We have learned that it is a process that takes time and effort.

Fútbol in Peru

Every Saturday in August Jon, Mathew and Nathan were able to play Fútbol (soccer) in a church league. It was a blessing to meet other pastors and have fellowship one with another. Of course, when the game starts it becomes every man for himself, but that is what is expected when there is such a focused priority with this sport in the country. It's a whole new level of fútbol compared to the United States.

Each player needed to show a picture ID as proof of being a regular attender in their church.

Even Mom came out to watch and cheer for our church teams.

Celebrando el cumpleaños de Nathan

On August 1st, our son Nathan turned eleven years old. Time seems to be going at a faster rate. It is hard to believe that our children have grown up so fast. We celebrated his birthday with other friends from the church here in Peru.

May God bless you in a special way this year Nathan!